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Yup, I don't understand why this isn't standard best-practice in most places. When I ran a development shop, every year the senior staff spent a week physicall

Yup, I don't understand why this isn't standard best-practice in most places. When I ran a development shop, every year the senior staff spent a week physically working in their client's department eating their own dog-food (i.e. using the apps they built/supported). Once this was implemented it cut down on the post-implementation change requests by over half.

rectang 6y ago
I'm a fan of such exchange initiatives, but I think they are not common practice for two reasons. 1. Limited provable return on investment. The effects are real but it's not like they're a panacea. 2. Human nature. There are a lot of people who are not enthusiastic about participating — because they are not cut out for the positions they're exchanging into for a spell, because they don't see the point, because they occupy a privilege place in the office hierarchy, etc.
- zentiggr 6y ago
  2a) doesn't matter if they can cut it in the switch position, it's the exposure that matters 2b) if they don't see the point, there needs to be a serious conversation and maybe consider a new hire who does understand the benefits 2c) yeah, if you're too important to want to improve the business, let's have you talk to the two Bobs. What is it you actually do here?
  - rectang 6y ago
    I don't disagree. However, all of the points I made apply double for management — particularly the point about status in the office hierarchy. Management is often the most reluctant to participate in exchange; furthermore, the conversations you describe don't happen because management doesn't push them. In my experience advocating for such initiatives — and I have done so across multiple organizations throughout my decades in the workforce, and not just at tech companies — it is not so much resistance from below as from above that stymies them.

rectang 6y ago

I'm a fan of such exchange initiatives, but I think they are not common practice for two reasons. 1. Limited provable return on investment. The effects are real but it's not like they're a panacea. 2. Human nature. There are a lot of people who are not enthusiastic about participating — because they are not cut out for the positions they're exchanging into for a spell, because they don't see the point, because they occupy a privilege place in the office hierarchy, etc.

zentiggr 6y ago
2a) doesn't matter if they can cut it in the switch position, it's the exposure that matters 2b) if they don't see the point, there needs to be a serious conversation and maybe consider a new hire who does understand the benefits 2c) yeah, if you're too important to want to improve the business, let's have you talk to the two Bobs. What is it you actually do here?
- rectang 6y ago
  I don't disagree. However, all of the points I made apply double for management — particularly the point about status in the office hierarchy. Management is often the most reluctant to participate in exchange; furthermore, the conversations you describe don't happen because management doesn't push them. In my experience advocating for such initiatives — and I have done so across multiple organizations throughout my decades in the workforce, and not just at tech companies — it is not so much resistance from below as from above that stymies them.